The Shinobi of Time
by Hedgehog of Time
Summary: Link Namikaze is the only known son of Minato Namikaze, and the heir of the ancient family. Needless to say everyone is shocked when he befriends village pariah Naruto and then the prodigy Sasuke. With these three together a new team is born, and a new path is revealed. This is the tale of the Shinobi of Time. NaruHina, Zelink, Sasukexfem!Haku, other pairings too.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1: The Heir of the Namikaze Line

**A/N: There will be NO yaoi in this story. Just getting that out of the way, only bromances.**

It was October Tenth, the seventh annual celebration of Konoha's defeat of the legendary demon Kyuubi No Kitsune, the Nine Tailed Fox, and all of Konoha was celebrating. There was good food, fireworks, and plenty of sake all around for everyone. Yes it was a known thing in Konoha and all about the Elemantal Nations that October Tenth was a day of celebration and fun. But for two young boys, this day was nothing but pain and misery for them. One was a certain whisker marked shinobi to be that we all know and love called Naruto Uzumaki, but we will get to him later. For now, our focus is another boy, remarkably similar to our favorite blonde haired shinobi. This is the, as of today, seven year old boy is the one who, on this day, sits alone on the roof of the empty manor that is his home at the base of the Hokage Monument. He was a tall wiry boy with loose blonde hair, azure colored eyes who's shape resembled that of a wolf's, and pointy elf-like ears. He wore a green tunic with white shorts and brown sandals. Over his head he wore a ridiculously long green cap with a tip that reached his waist and stuck in the black belt around his waist was a child-sized sword and a slingshot. His tunic bore the symbol of the Namikaze clan, three triangles serving as the head for a skeletal bird.

His name was Link Namikaze, the only son of the Fourth Hokage Minato Namikaze and heir to the Namikaze line, estate, and fortune.

Link didn't know who his mother was, he wasn't sure anyone knew, but that didn't seem to matter. Link was a Namikaze, the son of Konha's savior, and that was enough for anyone. It seemed to Link that he could do no wrong, no matter what he was instantly forgiven because of his last name. Link hated it, he didn't want respect given to him because of who his father was, he wanted to earn it on his own. It was the main reason he had entered the shinobi training program, to earn respect on his own.

But tonight of all nights he was miserable without end. Today was supposed to be a happy day, a day of joy, but for Link it was just a brutal constant reminder that his father was dead. Link looked up and gazed at the monument bearing his father's visage. "Hi dad, it's my birthday, happy birthday me." he said quietly to the stone monument. He sighed and continued to talk to the stone face. "I'm training to be a shinobi, just in case you wanted to know, I hope you'd be proud, Kami knows everyone in the village is proud that I'm following in 'my glorious father's footsteps'." Link paused hot tears stinging his eyes. "It's just... WHY DO PEOPLE LOOK AT ME AND SEE YOU!" he screamed, standing up. He picked up a rock and threw it as hard as he could at the Hokage monument. He laced chakra into his throw causing the stone to hit the Fourth's nose and shatter the unfortunate rock.

"I mean... I'm me! Not you! Since when is Link spelled M-I-N-A-T-O?! I mean, I want to be a great ninja yeah, I want to be like you, but I don't want to be seen as just a new you!" he sat down again. "I shouldn't be complaining about loneliness I know, but half the people claiming to be my friends don't even know what I'm saying, they're too busy agreeing with me!" He put his head in his hands. "Please, I just want one real friend, just one..."

Perhaps it was destiny, or maybe it was some silent deity answering his prayers, or maybe it was simply dumb luck and chance, but at that moment the wind picked up, and blew his lucky green cap right off his head. "Crap my hat!" he cried. "Get back here!" he cried racing after it. When it cleared the edge of the roof Link growled in frustration while angrily dashing away the remains of his tears. He slid down the drainpipe of the Namikaze Manor and landed safely on the street below.

Link pursued his hat through the streets of Konoha with increasing frustration. When the hat finally landed on the ground he grabbed and angrily shoved it onto his head. "Now stay there." he growled.

"It's him! It's the son of the Fourth!" cried a jubilant voice behind him. Link froze and realized in horror that he had found himself in the center of a group of rather drunk citizens. "Oh crap baskets." he said quietly to himself. "Alright! It's the honorable son!"

The crowd closed in around the boy and lifted him up into the air shouting praises to him and his father. Link felt miserable, this was exactly the kind of shit he liked to avoid at all costs. He hated it, the praise for things he didn't do, it felt like stealing.

"I've got the demon brat!" cried a victorious someone from the outside of the crowd.

Cheers of jubilation filled the air. "Alright! Give the monster to the Fourth's son! Let him finish what his father started!" With that drunken cries of victory filled the air and Link found himself on the ground again. Before he could process what was happening he found a kunai stuck into his hand and was shoved into a ring of citizens. Before him was another boy, slightly shorter than he and a tad heavier built. He had spiky blonde hair and robins-egg blue eyes which were filled with terror. On both of his cheeks were three identical scars resembling whiskers. The boy wore tattered orange pants and a black shirt with the symbol of Konoha on it. The boy cowered away from Link, looking for all the world like a cornered animal.

"Go on honorable son, kill it!" cried one of the mob.

"Wha- what!?" cried Link in disbelief. "This is a kid! A kid!" '_What the hell is wrong with these people!?' _thought Link in horror. _'They want me to kill some random kid!?'_

"That's no kid honorable son! That's the Nine Tailed Fox! The demon that killed you father and nearly destroyed the village!"

Link was taken aback. "Wha-"

"That's right." snarled another. "Your dad died trying to kill it. Now finish it!"

Link looked at the frightened boy before him. Looked into his eyes and tried to find anything. He wanted to see the truth, was this really a demon, the monster who had left him fatherless? Link looked into his eyes, but saw nothing. Only fear at the thought of his impending death, and confusion. With a shock Link realized that the boy didn't understand, he didn't understand why this was happening to him. Link felt fury bubble in his veins and he tossed the kunai away.

Shock silence filled the air at Link's actions. Everyone had thought Link would strike, that he would kill the boy and destroy the cursed child once and for all. But the last Namikaze had thrown away the weapon. None could really understand why he was doing this.

Link slowly walked forward to the trembling boy and smiled at him. "Hi there." he said in as gentle a voice as he could manage. "My name is Link Namikaze, whats your name?"

The boy blinked at him as though he wasn't sure how to respond. "M-my name?" asked the boy, his terror alleviated a bit.

Link nodded. "Yup, your name."

The boy stared at him, a flicker of hope entering his eyes before finally saying, "Naruto, Naruto Uzumaki."

Link smiled at him. "Nice to meet you Naruto Uzumaki. Are you hungry? I've got plenty of food at home if you want some." The boy looked like he hadn't eaten in days by the look of it, inflaming the boy's rage even more.

Naruto stared at the boy for a long moment, trying to decide if he was for real. After a moment he slowly nodded.

"Good!" smiled Link. "Come on! We haven't got all night." Link led the boy away, leaving the mob to wonder what the hell had just happened.

* * *

"Holy cow!" cried Naruto in wonder as they entered the Namikaze mansion. "This is all yours!? You get this all to yourself?!"

Link nodded. "Yeah, all to myself." he said sadly. "All alone."

Naruto recognized the tone in Link's voice all to well. "Oh, your an orphan." said Naruto. Link nodded solemnly. Naruto narrowed his eyes at his companion as they walked to the kitchen, remembering what the villagers had said. "Are you really the son of the Fourth Hokage?" asked Naruto.

Link nodded slowly. "Yeah, I am the only son of Minato Namikazee."

"You don't sound very happy about it." said Naruto in a confused tone as he sat at the gigantic table which the Namikazee clan used for parties.

Link sighed as he grabbed some leftover ramen from his dinner that night and a bottle of sake. "No, I'd rather not be the son of the Fourth Hokage if I had the choice."

Naruto couldn't believe what he was hearing. "Are you serious man! You get this awesome house and an entire fortune to yourself! People respect you, people like you, I'd do anything to have that!"

Link put the ramen down in front of Naruto and set the sake down. "You don't know what you're saying." he began to pour the sake into the cups for the both of them as Naruto dug into his ramen. "I get respect yeah, but not because of who I am, because of my last name. People look at me and all they see is the honorable son of the Fourth Hokage." he set down the bottle. "I have not done one single worthwhile thing in my life, yet everyone treats me like royalty."

Naruto blinked at the strange boy before him. In a way his logic made sense. Naruto would still have haply traded lives with him but it made sense none the less. "People don't even know my name and they hate me enough to kill me." said Naruto plainly.

Link nodded. "Geez, now I feel bad about bellyaching my problems to you." said Link with a small smile.

Naruto chuckled. "Ah don't feel bad, we all need to vent our problems every once in a while. Besides, it's not so bad! I've got old man Hokage, Iruka-sensei, some of the academy kids too!"

Link looked down. "I-I wish I had a friend, one who wasn't there for my last name or my clan's money."

Naruto frowned and nodded. Then his face lit up with a huge smile. "Hey, how about I be your friend!"

Link stared at him in shock. "R-really? You want to be my friend?"

"Hell yeah!" laughed Naruto. "You're a pretty cool guy. And who knows, when I'm Hokage I might let you be my secretary!"

Link smirked at him. "You? I'd like to see you beat me, then we'll decide who's gonna be the Hokage, I've got a legacy remember."

"Your on buddy!" he grinned extending his hand out.

Link looked at his hand uncertainly for a moment, then took it. "You've got yourself a deal... friend."

* * *

(One year later)

Link and Naruto were walking down the road beside the river ignoring the strange looks that villagers sent their way. The two laughed and chatted about things of little importance. The two of them had grown as close as brothers in the time they had known each other, and had both found a feeling of love and companionship they had never felt before.

It had come as a surprise to everyone, except the Third Hokage and perhaps Danzo of the ROOT, that Link Namikaze, the son of Konoha's savior, had become best friends with the village pariah, the so-called "demon". At best people had expected Link not to strangle the other boy first chance he got, but friendship had been unthinkable. And yet, the two stuck together like paper glued and taped together..

Link personally didn't give a crap that people whispered that he was a traitor or that his father would be ashamed. Okay the last one got under his skin but otherwise he couldn't care less what people thought. As for Naruto he found that people treated him better now that he was friends with Link. They were still indifferent and mostly refused to acknowledge him in general. But while they were indifferent neither were they cruel, and that was something Naruto would be forever grateful for.

As they walked and talked they spied someone on the pier. It was a boy, about two years younger than the two of them who were both eight. The boy had on a black short sleeved high collar shirt, gray shorts, and wrappings on his shins and sandal clad feet. But perhaps the most prominent feature of his clothes was the red and white Uchiha fan emblazoned on the back of his shirt. His black hair was ruffled by the breeze in the air as he stared off into the sunset. There was something achingly familiar about the boy that neither of the blondes could place.

For a moment both simply observed the Uchiha boy. Simultaneously they both recognized why the boy felt so familiar. He was emanating loneliness like a small sun, the same way both of the boys had felt every day before they had met each other. Perhaps this boy had not endured as much suffering and cruelty as Naruto had, and perhaps he had never known the level of isolation and loneliness that Link had gone through, but both boys could not help but sympathize.

Both Link and Naruto started down the short decline to the pier where the Uchiha boy stood, and stood on either side of him, a pair of silent sentinels on either side. The Uchiha boy looked at both of them, confused for a moment. But when Link gave his reassuring grin and Naruto gave him his thumbs up, the boy could not help but smile.

They stood there by the river and watched the sun set over the flawless cerulean water together.

* * *

(Three year time skip, Shinobi Academy)

Iruka gave his class a cursory glance over for attendance as he walked to the podium in the middle of the room and saw, to his pleasant surprise, that his favorite hyperactive blonde student was on time and in his seat between the Namikaze heir and the Uchiha child prodigy, much to the displeasure of Ino, Link's biggest fangirl, and Sakura, Sasuke's biggest fangirl. But to Iruka's confusion, Naruto was not retaliating against their harsh words as he usually did. On top of that Sasuke and Link, instead of their usual defensive behavior for their friend were simply sitting next to him. Link in fact looked like he was struggling to hold back laughter.

Iruka shrugged off their strange behavior and turned towards the chalkboard to write down today's lesson. Suddenly there was a whoosh behind him and two surprised squeals which were quickly accompanied by a wild scramble. Iruka wheeled around to see what he had seen before, except Naruto was sitting with his feet on the table, a smirk of satisfaction on his face, Link was sputtering laughter and Sasuke wore a thinly disguised grin.

_'Those little crafty little weasels.'_ thought Iruka in grudging admiration. _'One of them created a clone while Naruto sneaked in.'_ Iruka decided not to call them out for it, mainly because it was a pretty clever trick.

After that fateful day on the docks three years ago, Sasuke, Link, and Naruto had formed a close friendship that was more akin to brotherhood than anything else. The three of them had come to rely on each other like family and drove each other to reach new levels of excellence which they had never dreamed of before.

Sasuke had become a much better person with the help of his new friends. Through Link's patient compassion and Naruto's "Therapy no Jutsu" he had dealt with his bottled up anger and his murderous feelings towards his brother. While he would still gladly chop off Itachi's head if the opportunity presented itself, he would neither allow hate and revenge to dominate his life. With his new friends encouragement he had expanded his studies, training beyond what they had been taught in school. Sasuke had become quite adept at basic fire jutsu's and genjutsus, though he could only progress so far in this field as all the Uchiha scrolls consisted mainly of Sharingan genjutsus, and he had yet to unlock that particular ability. However in terms of taijutsus he had progressed quite a lot, especially after discovering an old scroll detailing the teachings of a highly secretive sect of warriors from the west known as the Shaolin Monks. He had become well versed in Tiger and Viper style and the philosophical teachings behind them.

As for Link, the boy had never been happier in all his life. He finally had two friends whom he would gladly die for, and taught him to see past his father's shadow. The young Namikazee had become incredibly well versed in lightning and earth jutsus, both of which were his elemental affinities, and had discovered his remarkable talent for genjutsus. But his true passion had become weapons mastery. He learned to wield a spear with speed and grace, integrating taijutsu techniques into his weapon skills, creating variants of the standard skills never seen before. Also, he had learned to become a master archer, an art considered by many shinobi to be worthless, but the young Namikazee breathed new life into the rather usefull skill. By channeling chakra into his arrows he was able to create three types of arrows, fire arrows which incinerated anything in a twenty foot radius, ice arrows which froze whatever it hit, and lightning arrows which electrocuted it's target. But after discovering a scroll from the far west, Link had learned how to make a weapon known as a broadsword, a sword with a straight blade with a triangular tip, meant for bludgeoning opponents as much as cut them With his weapon skills, Link became a true nightmare on the field.

But the one who had benefited the most from the fellowship had been Naruto. With his friends help he had gotten through his childish attitude, but remained a devoted prankster. With their help he had discovered the Uzumaki talent of fuuinjutsus lived in him. With the aid of Sasuke and Link's rather generous resources they had gained access to the Uzumaki clan scrolls and had begun to drill Naruto in fuuinjutsus. Their greatest hurtle was his horrendous chakra control. But through some long meditation sessions they discovered the cause of this to be the fact that Naruto simply had too much chakra for proper control. Naruto was less than pleased when he found out that in order to control his chakra, it meant hours of meditation every day. But when he finally did manage to get a harness on his chakra he began to become a true shinobi. Working with his friends he unearthed skill and prowess in battle he never knew he had.

Together they had discovered various secret jutsus by breaking into the Hokage's private library, and all three had been positively ecstatic when they discovered the Kage no Bunshin jutsu. Though Link and Sasuke had both developed prowess in it, Naruto mastered it, allowing him to create almost as many clones as he wanted.

But without a doubt, the most exciting day in their life, was the day that Naruto met Kurama, the Nine Tailed Fox.

During one of his meditations Naruto had felt a strange presence in his mind. Curious, Naruto hand investigated through his mindscape for the source of the disturbance. Iamgine his shock, when he encountered a gigantic chakra sealed prison housing a demon the size of a mountain. After Naruto's original panic, he worked up the nerve to talk to the behemoth. After a long discussion with the rather intelligent creature, Naruto discovered that the Kyuubi had never intended to attack the village, but he had been under a rather powerful Genjutsu, and had been forced to attack the village. Kurama actually had no idea how he had ended up sealed in Naruto, but he did know that someone powerful out there was out to get him and by extension, Naruto. After telling his friends about it they had decided to keep it to themselves, not really knowing whom to trust with the information.

Though they had only just begun to realize their potential, all three met a wall when they realized they could go no further without the actual training of a qualified Jonin, they had to be content with the current status they of course trained to keep their skills sharp, but in the lieu of new battle skills to learn the three began to develop hobbies.

Sasuke became quite interested in calligraphy It was a very calming skill akin to meditation and was an excellent way to deal with anger and resentment that occasionally flared up within him. Besides that Sasuke had discovered he had the rather odd talent of cooking. Despite a rough start and a few accidental fires that nearly destroyed the Uchiha estate Sasuke became a rather accomplished chef, a skill he surmised he inherited from his mother.

As for Link, the boy began to take up blacksmithing, a valuable skill for weapons masters to have. He learned how to repair and craft weapons from metal ore with no small help from Tenten's father, and soon became a rather accomplished smith. This skill led him to study another academic study which would greatly benefit his smithing, namely geology. Using his earth affinity, Link could identify large deposits of metal ore in the ground and useful types of stone for heating in a hastily crafted furnace.

But for Link, he began to channel his free time more and more into his garden. Link had always loved things that grew. Outside of hanging out with his two surrogate brothers, Link was happiest surrounded by all things green and growing. Under his care, much of the unused land of the Namikazee estate became a huge garden and orchard filled with all types of fruit trees and vegetables. With a surplus of organic fruits and vegetables Link began to sell them to various shopkeepers and restauranteur, namely the ones who had been kind to Naruto. The others noticed the trend and Naruto was soon grudgingly welcomed at nearly every restraunt in Konoha.

As for Naruto, he too took up botany and calligraphy, but his main hobbies became meditative martial art known as Tai Chi, again a western art, and, surprisingly, ballet. When he was younger Naruto had, like many boys, considered ballet to be a "girly" thing and beneath male notice. But he came to realize that ballet was actually quite a useful and surprisingly exhausting exercise form, and did wonders for one's flexibility. Link and Sasuke never ceased to tease him about it, but they also acknowledged that it was a useful form of exercise.

Though they were all high Genin if not low Chunin level in terms of skill and power, Link and Naruto had purposely failed twice in order to graduate with Sasuke, who was younger than both of them. But this was their year, the year they finally graduated and became official Shinobi of the Village Hidden in the Leaves.


	2. Chapter 2

Friends, writers, readers and assorted wierdos. I reggret to inform you that, due to personal issues of grave importance, I will not be able to wirte for some time. I know that this is a kick in the teeth for some of you, but I will return as soon as I can.

I love you all.

-Hedgehog of Time


End file.
